More money could be added to the state’s wrongful conviction fund. Lawmakers sent a bill to add $10 million to the fund to the governor’s desk on Thursday.
The money set aside for people who were wrongfully convicted is almost gone.
State Representative Steve Johnson (R-Wayland) is a bill sponsor.
“We made a big mistake, right? We put an innocent man in jail. And then we say, all right, we’re going to compensate you, not that we can ever truly compensate them, but we’re going to do what we can here, and then we can’t even do that?” he says. ”I don’t know how much worse you can get than that.”
State law says that people who are wrongfully convicted are eligible to receive $50,000 for every year they spend in prison.
Johnson says this bill would make sure there’s enough money in the fund until the next spending year, and it includes new reporting requirements that Johnson says will ensure the fund doesn’t run out of money again.
Copyright 2019 Michigan Radio